Chain of Love
by AxCfangirl
Summary: One day, Athrun notices his daughter is wearing a ring on a chain around her neck. A very familiar ring with a red gem, which he sees for the first time in more than fifteen years.
1. Kitri

**A/N** : This is a one-shot though cut into two pages.

And it is kind of a sequel to "The Ring" and the Athrun's part of "The Girl of the Past." So it's better for you to read the two fics first.

Well, if you don't want to read those rather long fics, perhaps knowing one of the director's comments will suffice. He mentioned that he feels giving a ring to someone is similar to putting someone in chains. And it is what has most greatly influenced my interpretation of Athrun and Cagalli's story in GSD.

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English is not my first language. Please bear with grammatical errors.

And for your information, my fic is based on the remastered version (but I watched the original version, too).

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GS/GSD.**

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 **Chain of Love**

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I run out of my room and down the corridor. I'm so eager to reach my destination I feel like jumping from the window down to the garden. Of course I won't actually do it. I know it's too high for me. It's just I'm that much excited.

This afternoon, I, Kitri Zala Athha, am going to take on an important challenge.

And I have to hurry. I've been waiting for a chance to climb a tree, and this is perfect. Myrna, our housekeeper, went out for an errand a little ago. Other servants are still around, but they overlook my adventures. Not Myrna. She won't let me do the climbing if she's here.

She became even more overprotective after I fell from a tree and sprained my ankle last month. Father also scolded me for carelessness. Very strictly. Very long. I think it was too much. And it's totally unfair I got scolded _twice_ for _one_ mistake. Father and Myrna should've talked first and decided which of them'd do the scolding.

Well, at least Mother praised me for being brave because I tried for the tallest tree in our garden. Though I have to admit it's still beyond my reach... But Mother assured me I could eventually conquer it. I just have to practice a lot, and be more careful. I'm following her advice. I'm going to practice with a lower and easier tree. My ankle's fully healed now.

It's actually been fine for some time, but I had to wait because Myrna's so adamant. Sure, I'm sorry I made her worried and upset. But Father taught me how to reduce the damage, so I won't get hurt much if I fall again. No, I'll never fall again to begin with! So there's no reason for her to worry. But she doesn't listen! Even Mother can't win when Myrna's like that.

However, I don't give up just because I failed once or Myrna tries to stop me. As Mother often says, Athhas are stubborn and bold, which I am.

Unlike my little brother, Touka, who is wimpish. He says climbing a tree is dangerous and doesn't join me. He was even scared of climbing the ladder to our tree house first. It took him a while to find the courage to try.

And when I fell from a tree, he said he knew something like that would happen and I should've known too. What a jerk. Little brothers are such a pain in the neck. I wish I had a big brother like my cousin Marisa. Her brother, Akash, is kind and generous and totally different from mine.

But there's no point in dwelling on what I haven't got, I guess. Plus, I paid Touka back for the comment. For a whole day, I kept calling him my baby brother instead of his name whenever I talked to him or talked about him. He hates it when I call him that.

It's actually quite ridiculous in my opinion. It's a hard fact he's my baby brother. Why can't he just accept it? He can't change it however much he complains. Then why keep whining?

Well, he's not only my baby brother. He's a baby. Period. I take back what I said. He is more of a baby than a wimp. So maybe he'll be braver when he grows up. Or maybe I should teach him to be bolder as his big sister. Not today, of course, but sometime.

Making a mental note, I run around the corner, which is actually another thing Myrna will scold me about if she finds out. I bumped into people while doing this a few times...or maybe a bit more. Once, it was a maid carrying a tray with plates and cups and they all fell on the floor. And I hurt my finger, trying to help clean it up and picking up the pieces.

I'm supposed to look before I turn the corner and I usually try to. But it's a time of emergency. I'm in a hurry. So it can't be helped, can it?

With my speed and angle, my braid falls across my chest. I throw it over my shoulder and continue running. My hair's long and a bit handful sometimes. But it looks good when I dress up, so I just put up with it.

Speaking of which, some people get surprised when I say I'm okay with wearing skirts and dresses. They think I don't like it because I'm Mother's daughter. But I don't mind wearing them, though I prefer a sweat suit on an occasion like right now.

I like dressing up fine, mostly because I love jewels and I get to wear them when dressing up. They're so pretty and beautiful and sparkling. I can spend hours just watching and touching and wearing them.

I often sneak into Mother and Father's bedchamber and peek into Mother's jewelry box. She has a lot more jewelry than I do. Unfortunately, most of them are kept in a special place like mine and I can't see them easily. Myrna doesn't let me play with them. But those kept in Mother's jewelry box are good enough.

Mother even gave me one of them. It's my favorite and I've been keeping it with me all the time since. It's a very pretty...

Running down the stairs to the ground floor, I notice the person just coming in from the entrance. I stop and shout with joy, "Father!" Then I start running again. Now toward him.

He's been so busy recently and I haven't seen him for nearly a week. Well, he sometimes stops by at my room to give me a kiss when he comes home at late night, and he did so three days ago...should I say three nights ago? Whichever it is, he came to my room, but I wasn't supposed to be awake, so I couldn't talk to him. I couldn't even see him. I had to keep my eyes closed and pretend to be asleep so he wouldn't scold me.

Father turns toward me and smiles. "Hey, Kitri."

I jump at him and hug him tight and nuzzle my head against his jacket. "It's _so_ good to see you again."

He gives me pats, hugging me back. "Good to see you, too. Sorry I haven't taken much time for you these days. But I have a day off tomorrow. We can do something together."

"You and me alone?" I ask hopefully.

He raises an eyebrow. "Me and you and Touka, of course."

I pout though I knew he'd say so. But even if it seems hopeless, you shouldn't just give up. You should at least try, right? So I tried. I think it was worth doing.

So I just go on to ask another question. "Mother isn't taking tomorrow off, too?"

"No. But we can have some family time this evening and probably tomorrow evening as well. Her schedule seems light."

I'm a bit disappointed, but it's not bad. After all, Mother hasn't been so busy and I got to spend time with her often this week. She even read to me before bed for four days in a row. Probably tonight, too.

I like her doing the reading better than Father. He doesn't make faces and voices like her. And it's a bit boring when I ask him a question about a word or something written in the book and his explanation gets long. Sometimes super long and I fall asleep in the middle.

Though it's a secret he bores me. I sometimes say it to Mother, but she promised she wouldn't tell him. She also said, it's okay if I tell him that. But I don't feel like it. It's not like I don't want to hear his explanation. Sometimes it's fun. It's just it doesn't happen so often.

Hm, maybe I can get Mother to read a few more chapters tonight since Father's home and probably he'll read to Touka. Touka likes Father doing the reading and often asks him to read a difficult book he doesn't understand. He says he can sleep more easily when Father bores him with a long, difficult explanation.

Yeah, he's weird. Why do you want to hear an explanation if you're not going to try to understand it? He should ask Father to sing him a lullaby or something instead. Falling asleep without meaning to and trying to fall asleep from the beginning are so completely different.

I don't get how I can be related to such a weirdo. Sure, Mother and Father often call each other weird. But I don't think they're as weird as Touka, and certainly I'm—

"Where did you get it?"

I blink at Father's voice. I guess I got lost in my thought a bit.

I look at him. He's staring at the ring I wear. I mean, I don't wear it on my finger. It's too big for me. I put it on a chain and hang it on my neck.

I hold the ring up with my fingers so he can see it better. "Mother gave it to me," I explain.

She caught me peeking at her jewelry five days ago. But she didn't scold me. Instead, she said I could have this. It was a gift she received years ago, I heard.

The ring is made of silver metal and a red gem and smaller clear gems. Come to think of it, I don't know what kind of gems they are. Maybe ruby and diamonds? But I think they look somewhat different, though I'm not sure. I'll ask Mother later—or Myrna. Yeah, Myrna's probably a better person to ask. If she doesn't know, I'll remember to ask the next time a jeweler comes.

"...She did?" Father replies.

"Yes. It's pretty, isn't it?" I say with a smile.

Not that I expect him to really appreciate the ring. He isn't interested in jewelry. He says he has some knowledge since it's useful when he goes to a party for work, but it doesn't mean he can _really_ understand things like how pretty this ring is.

It actually surprised me that Father noticed my ring. He hardly comments on Mother's or our appearances except when he thinks it's not appropriate. He doesn't compliment Mother on her dress or her jewelry like Uncle Kira does Aunt Lacus.

Well, I don't think Mother minds it. She cares just as much about that kind of thing as Father, which means almost nothing. I agree with Myrna they should care a bit more. I wonder how come I love pretty things, especially jewelry, despite having parents like them?

In fact, Touka is a better person to talk with about jewelry than my parents. He doesn't like jewels as much as I do, but he loves dressing up. Sometimes we play dress-up together, with our own clothes or our parents' if we can get into their closet. It's one of our shared hobbies and similarities, which are very rare. We aren't really alike. As I've said, he's wimpier and babier and weirder.

Maybe we both take after Father? He isn't interested in jewels, but likes neat clothes and cares about his appearances, though his taste in clothes isn't so good. It's a really good thing Myrna and other servants buy his clothes for him. He looks a lot better in the clothes they bought than when he's wearing those he did himself.

And I can say with complete confidence that I don't take after him in that point. My taste is absolutely much better than his. Maybe I take after Mother's taste, which is better than Father's. Or maybe I've been influenced by Myrna since she's in charge of taking care of me. Like buying most of my clothes, jewelry, and other stuff. Maybe it's also why I like pretty things.

Where was I? Ah, yes, Father likes to keep his clothes neat...though his uniform is a bit disheveled now. Well, I guess it can't be helped. He's probably been too busy to take care of his clothes. He hasn't shaved, either.

Turning my eyes at his face, I tilt my head and ask, "Father? Are you all right?"

He has a weird face and he's still looking at the ring. Come to think of it, he hasn't given me a reply yet.

He looks like he came to senses, and shakes his head with a smile. "Sure. I was just a little surprised. Never mind." The weird look on his face is gone.

"Okay." I nod, though I'm still confused.

He slightly hesitates before saying, pointing at the ring, "Do you mind if—"

"Father, you're home!" A squeal comes, and we both turn around. Touka bursts into the entrance hall with an excited face, and hugs Father.

"Hey, Craw." Father tousles Touka's blue hair which is exactly like his, and mine.

He doesn't do that to me now. I don't like people messing up my hair. Plus, being treated that way makes me look like a baby, doesn't it? Though Mother does it anyway and I don't really mind it if it's her. I won't really mind it if Father does it, either. But he stopped doing it after I said I didn't like my hair messed up. Well, he still strokes my hair and pats my head.

Oh, by the way, Craw is Touka's nickname. Short for Crawfish. He says he likes crawfishes because they're cool and remind him of Father's mobile suit. I honestly think it's nonsense. The Infinite Justice looks nothing like a crawfish just because they're both red! Father agrees with me. He didn't look happy when Touka said it.

Besides, even if crawfishes are a bit—a tiny bit—similar to the Infinite Justice, it's still weird you want to be called that, right? Sure, I like being called lioness, but that's different. Lion is the symbol of our family. It's even in our crests. And lions are much, much cooler than crawfishes. Not to mention Mother's called lioness, too.

Actually, Father calls me his _little_ lioness. I told him I was no longer little. I'm a big girl. But he said, it's reasonable to call me that since Mother and I are both called lioness and I'm little compared to her. I think it makes sense.

Not that I'm happy about it, but it's okay. I'm still growing. I can be taller than Mother someday. Hm, I just remembered Mother was rolling her eyes at our conversation, though. Does she think I can't be that tall?

Well, I'm sure I can. I eat a lot and exercise a lot and sleep a lot. That makes you bigger and stronger, right? So I'll surely be big and strong like a lion and called big lioness. Not small and weak like a crawfish. You can stamp on it and crush it so easily.

I don't get why Touka doesn't pick a better nickname like Leopard, or Cheetah. If I wasn't called lioness, I'd choose a strong one like that.

But not Tiger though I like tigers. Because tigers are Uncle Andy's animal and I don't want to use it. Don't get me wrong. I like him. I just don't want to _be_ like him. I'm totally against coffee. It tastes disgusting! It seems awful to become addicted to such a bad drink.

I know tigers and coffee aren't really connected just because Uncle Andy is called Tiger and likes coffee. I'm not stupid. But I'm still a bit worried. So I decided to leave both coffee—very happily—and tigers—very unhappily—to him, just in case. I even let him take Tiger when we play War of Animals, which is my favorite board game, together. Well, I can still have Lion and the other animals I like.

Speaking of tiger, I heard Mother and Uncle Kira fought a tiger somewhere in North Africa when they were young and visiting Uncle Ledonir's hometown. That's pretty awesome, isn't it?

I didn't get to hear much about the battle, though. Father stopped Mother and said, the story isn't fit for children and she should wait until I get older. All I heard was the tiger was leading a bunch of huge dogs called...I can't remember, something like Bark. Probably those dogs growled and howled a lot. I really wish I could hear more, and I can't wait to get older. Mother promised she'd tell me the whole story then.

In fact, Uncle Andy and Uncle Mwu said they knew the story and they could tell me when I told them about it. But I said no. I made a promise with Mother, and Father, and I didn't want to break it. Aunt Murrue said, I'm a good girl.

But, well, it's possible Father gets unreasonable and won't give me permission to hear the story even on my next birthday—when I'll become eight, which is surely old enough. In that case, maybe I should consider being a bad girl and taking Uncle Andy and Uncle Mwu's offer.

Anyway, now isn't the time to think about it. I need to focus on my nearer future.

Watching Father and Touka chatter, I debate in my head if I should change my plan since Father's home. But I decide not. I'm not sure when the next chance will be, and I can spend time with Father later and tomorrow.

So I let Touka have Father all to himself for a bit. I'm the big sister, and I can be generous. Though he should repay me for this. I'll talk to him about letting me have some alone time with Father tomorrow.

"I got to go. I'll see you later," I tell them.

"Wait. What are you—" Luckily for me, a beep comes from Father's pocket and interrupts him. He takes out a mobile and starts talking.

I send Touka a warning look so he'll keep silent, and tiptoe away while Father's distracted. If he finds out what I'm going to do, he'll probably insist on coming with me. Not that I don't want him around, of course. I just want to challenge a tree by myself. I don't need a babysitter. I can watch out for myself and succeed at this on my own.

And I did! I did it!

See? I'm a good climber. It was only a onetime mistake.

And well, partly because I carefully chose the tree this time. But that's a part of the skill, right? I picked this one because the lowest branch is higher than my reach when I stand on the ground, but not very much. And the bark is rough enough for me to have good grip and footing.

It wasn't really good for my sweatpants, though. I find a hole around my right knee. But Mother said a few weeks ago she was going to get me a new sweat suit, the same one as hers—in a smaller size, of course—so I don't have to worry about it. I'll just have to remember to remind her since she hasn't got it yet.

Besides, a hole on my clothes is nothing compared to the huge achievement I just made. I feel so proud and satisfied, sitting on the highest branch I could get and dangling my feet. I'm all sweaty and my breathing is still rough, but I feel so good, better than ever. Today is one of the best days in my life!

"Look! I made it here!" I shout and wave my arm at a guard who happens to have been around doing some work. She waves back with a smile.

I look around and find two gardeners working with a tree across the garden. Unfortunately, they're too far to hear me. So I wipe the sweat on my forehead and decide to just sit, rest, and enjoy the sight from up here for a while.

Mother must be going to praise me. I hope she'll make it to dinner. Then I can tell her about this while eating...um, on second thought, probably not during dinner. Myrna may overhear it and then she'll surely give me a long lecture.

I need to catch Mother when she's alone. Or when she's only with Father. Not Touka. He may give me away. But Father can keep a secret, and I don't think he'll scold me, though he won't be as excited about my achievement as Mother.

Thinking about Father, I remember the look he had. I pull out the ring from under my sweatshirt and look at it.

Why on Earth did it make him...I don't know, uncomfortable? It seemed like he didn't like my ring. But it doesn't make sense. He usually doesn't show enough interest in jewelry to say he likes it or doesn't. Why is this ring an exception? Although it's pretty, I don't think it's so special...oops, wait.

A thought just popped into my head. Is it possible Father acted weird because this ring was a gift to Mother from another man? It sounds likely. I heard she was once engaged to someone else, though I'm pretty sure it was a long time before she married Father. She was very young.

But if this ring reminds Father of Mother's ex-fiancé, I guess it's just natural he doesn't like seeing it.

I stare at the ring with a frown, playing with it and pondering. I remain that way for a while. I'm so deep in thought I don't hear a maid calling me until she comes right under the tree.

...And I end up getting caught by Myrna while climbing down. Predictably, she gives me a piece of her mind. Well, I give her mine a bit. But she is the one who does most of the talking.

Touka says it couldn't be more than half an hour that she was scolding me—or we were arguing, whichever. But I bet it continued for more than three hours! It felt like that anyway.

Today's not such a good day after all.

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	2. Athrun

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Noticing his wife entering their bedchamber, Athrun looks up from the book he has been reading. "How was our little lioness? Still grumbling?"

Cagalli grins. "Actually, no. She was in a good mood when I left her room."

He raises surprised eyebrows. "What happened? I thought she wouldn't get out of the bad mood until the morning."

"I taught her a few tricks she can use on Myrna so that she can hopefully avoid receiving a long lecture next time," she explains.

"Ah, I see. You are such an expert."

He means to tease her, but she returns with a smug smile, "Sure I am."

She walks toward her wardrobe and opens its doors. His eyes follow her while he leans back against the headboard of the bed.

He opens his mouth to ask what has been on his mind and bothering him this evening. "Why did you give her... _that ring_?"

"Huh?" She stops and looks at him with a puzzled expression. Then realization crosses her face. "Oh, you mean the ring you gave me when we were kids?" She goes back to rummaging through the wardrobe. "Kitri said it was pretty and she liked it."

"...That's all?"

"Do I need more reason?" She throws a glance at him with a raised eyebrow. "It's not like I wear it now. So it's better to give it to her than to leave it to rust." After a moment, she adds, "Not that it actually would rust. Maids are taking good care of my jewelry."

"But couldn't you give her something else? It didn't have to be that ring," he persists. A small frown forms between his brows as he pictures in his mind the ring he saw for the first time in more than fifteen years.

"You still don't like it," she knowingly says without looking.

"I'm fine with your keeping it. But it's different Kitri wears it around..." It doesn't sit well with him that his daughter has a ring which he sees as a representation of his past mistake.

He wonders how he can coax her into getting rid of the ring, or at least stopping wearing it, which he didn't have a chance to try to do today. And he thought that maybe he should talk to his wife about the ring first anyway.

Maybe, he ponders, getting Kitri something that replaces the ring will work. A kind of bribe, though he doesn't like to think about it that way. Something she will like a lot better. A lion pendant, perhaps. He will make time to check with Myrna about it tomorrow, he decides.

"She treasures it and wears it every day. Aren't you glad your ring has made our daughter happy?" Cagalli says, her head in the wardrobe.

He blinks several times. "That's...one way to look at it." He hasn't thought about the situation that way.

While he considers the new angle, she pulls out a green sweat suit to place it on the stool, and tilts her head. "Though I wonder where she got that fascination on jewels from. I never liked them much."

"Nor dresses," he chimes in with a smirk.

She gives him a scowl as a reply before climbing onto their bed. She starts to stretch as usual, invading his side now and then, which he simply ignores out of habit.

Her legs flutter in the air as she says teasingly, "You should at least be glad Kitri wears a ring given to _me_. Not one given to _her_."

He narrows his eyes. "She is way too young to accept anyone's ring."

"Well, you know what they say: time flies. It seems like just yesterday she was born. So it's probably not so long before she starts dating."

He grimaces. "I'd rather not think about it."

"I say you better. If you don't prepare yourself, you're probably going to freak out once she becomes a teenager, do something like making up so many rules to restrain her behavior, and then, have big fights with her." She laughs rather proudly. "I'm sure she'll be a rebellious teenager. She is my daughter."

Half-heartedly watching her hip moving up and down, he sighs. "I guess you are right..." Their daughter clearly takes after his wife more than she does him.

Plus, he isn't good at letting others on their own. Especially those he loves. He even tried to chain Cagalli with the ring with a red gem.

Before the Second Bloody Valentine War, he felt insecure and jealous because of her strong love for and devotion to Orb, because she didn't put him before Orb. He still supported her fight, trying to fulfill her wishes and take care of her while neglecting taking care of himself, because he believed that it was his obligation. That it was the right way to be in a relationship.

And he felt frustrated that she wasn't doing the job of being a girlfriend as properly as he was doing the job of being a boyfriend. That she was too busy with her job as the Chief Representative of Orb to take good care of him. That he didn't receive the reward for playing the role given to him. Even though he had never told her what he expected from the relationship, from her.

It didn't occur to him that she might have a different idea on what being in a relationship meant. That what she wanted for them might be different from what he did. That she might be seeing their situation and future differently.

It was partly why he couldn't see that the reason she had accepted the ring wasn't the one that he thought was. He believed—or wanted to believe—that by accepting the ring, she had agreed to become more like how he wanted her to be, play the role he gave her better. Until the news of her almost-marriage revealed his misunderstanding.

At that time, he even couldn't get a clear sight of his own desire, what he was trying to achieve. All he could see was that she wasn't giving him what he wanted, and his frustration and anger over that, which made him want to control her even more though he told himself he was just trying to do the right thing and protect her.

Kira reproached him for his attitude during a battle, and he started to reassess what he was doing, giving more serious thought to his reasons. However, he didn't truly begin to understand the wrongness of his attempt to control her until he became aware that someone was trying to control _him_ and realized that he didn't want such a life.

There were things he couldn't accept even if people said it was right, things he couldn't help doing even if people said it was wrong. Like he couldn't accept eliminating the Archangel, the people he cared about, even for the sake of peace and couldn't help defecting from ZAFT to protect himself and the future he wished for.

He couldn't give up his will and wishes and become Dullindal's puppet that just fought as ordered. And he understood that Cagalli couldn't become a puppet that lived as someone—he—said, stopping fighting for what she cared about, either. That becoming how other people wanted you to be wasn't happiness for her as much as it wasn't for him.

They can't be happy just playing a role given to them and fulfilling someone else's wishes. They want—need more than the happiness of a puppet.

Probably she is much more so than he is. After all, her defiance and stubbornness surpass his own.

She is like a fire, he often thinks with fascination and admiration. You can't put a fire in chains. And if you locked it up in a small shelter, taking away the air and the fuel, it couldn't survive.

Her spirit, burning to fight freely, fight for what she loved, wouldn't allow her to accept a chain, or at least to consider being put in chains as her happiness, which some people may do. It would die without her love fueling it, and her love requires trying to fight for what she wants to protect. Her fierce compassion and stubborn nobility wouldn't let her forgive herself for abandoning what she loves and retreating into a shelter.

She would suffer and hate herself for doing it, and probably hate him for making her do it. And eventually, nothing would be left except for her body, a hollow shell with only ashes inside, her inner fire put out. Her remains, and remnants of their relationship, would be all he can have.

That would be the consequence of that wish of his—the wish he tried to achieve, using the ring—getting fulfilled. Which wasn't what he wanted.

He loves her and never wanted to harm her, never wanted to destroy her spirit. But loving someone doesn't guarantee you are actually treating them well. Sometimes, your love, what you do in the name of love, makes them suffer. Love can become a selfish, destructive chain you put them on.

His feelings that he wants to protect her and help her have always been true, but it doesn't change the fact that what he did for the purpose harmed her and what she loved.

The goodness of his intention, the authenticity of his concern for her, his wishes to keep her safe and at his side, or even his love for her. None of that ever justifies his attempt to dictate her life and mold her as he pleases.

Love isn't an excuse for your behavior. It is a reason to make an effort. To know, to understand, to accept. To help, to protect. To make the person happy, to search for the best. To correct mistakes, to make amends. To keep trying even when it isn't easy, even after messing up.

Your effort may be the only thing that can prove that your love for them is true.

It is still difficult for him not to try to restrain his loved ones. He likes controllable things and being in control. But he fights the desire every day.

Everyone makes choices every day, hoping they are right ones, hoping they lead to their happiness. There is no guarantee, though. You can never know for sure where your choices will bring you. All you can do is hope, and fight. Fight for the future you want. Fight for your happiness. Fight for your loved ones.

And he has learned from his experiences what to fight and how to—

"You are dwelling on negative memories again, aren't you?" A voice snaps him out of his reminiscence.

His wife is looking at him with an arched eyebrow. It seems she has already finished her stretch routine while he was lost in thought.

He simply shrugs his shoulders, averting his eyes a little.

She sighs dramatically. "You really haven't changed."

"Look who's talking," he returns.

To be honest, though, he thinks she has quite changed in the years they have shared. She is better at managing her emotions and more skilled at politics, achieving her goals through words as well as actions.

At the same time, however, she hasn't really changed. She is still the same person as the girl he met on the island, the girl he fell in love with. Defiant, tough, compassionate, and spirited. Her fire is still shining brightly, capturing his heart over and over, making his love for her deeper and firmer each time.

With amazement and affection, he gazes at her who settles herself comfortably next to him.

"Speaking of memories, by the way," she says, "I probably should teach the kids to ask for permission before kissing someone rather than catch them by surprise. They might do it. Like father, like child." She throws a teasing grin at him, resting her chin on a pillow in her arms.

Making a face, he defends himself. "It was just a minor youthful indiscretion. Nothing to make a fuss about."

"Humm, then you won't mind it if they—especially Kitri is kissed like that, I suppose?"

His scowl deepens. He would absolutely not approve of such a thing. Anyone who wants to touch his daughter _must_ properly get permission from her first, at the very least. Getting permission from him as well would be better, though he won't say it for he is sure his wife, and possibly also his daughter, would accuse him of being overprotective and unreasonable, if not overbearing.

But then his face turns into a smile. "You have a point. We should show our children a good example." He places his book on the bedside table.

Cagalli's face turns suspicious at the sudden change of his mood.

He grabs her left hand, takes the gold rings off her finger, puts them on the table along with his own ring without looking, and kisses her knuckle with a grin.

"May I have permission to kiss you—on the lips—Lady Cagalli?"

The suspicion on her face is replaced by surprise, then amusement.

Kissing her palm, he sends her seductive glances. "So?"

She puts on a thoughtful face, then an impish one. "I don't think so," she said, shoving the pillow aside.

He lifts his eyebrows. But before he interrogates her, she pounces on him and, with no pause, claims his lips.

She pulls away as soon as he starts to kiss back, which leaves him almost pouting. Almost. He does _not_ pout no matter what his wife says.

"Didn't you say we should get permission before kissing someone?" he asks in a sulky tone, trying to mask his disappointment over her ending the kiss so quickly.

"I did," she answers, then says with a triumphant smile, "But you owed me for our first kiss. So I just collected my debt."

He knits his eyebrows and thinks a little before swiftly taking her lips, catching her off guard and causing her to drop the smile. The kiss is just as short as the previous one.

"You can't kiss me without permission," she protests. "That's against the rule!"

"Actually, I can." He throws her a smug look. "If memory serves, which I'm sure it does, you stole a kiss from me last week. You owed me one, too." He quickly pecks her lips before adding, "And one more. From last month."

With clear annoyance, she narrows her eyes at him. He returns it with a grin which he knows very well will heat her up further.

Compressing her lips into a stubborn line, she stretches out her hands to push him down on the bed. He doesn't resist it.

This time, she thrusts her tongue into his mouth as their lips meet. He is more than willing to accept it and pulls it in deeper.

After a while of battling for dominance, she straightens up, panting. He looks up at her and tucks strands of the golden hair behind her ear to have a better view of her eyes. He is satisfied with what he is seeing.

"Abandoning the rule already?" he asks in an innocent voice, caressing her rosy cheek and curvy cheek in a not so innocent way.

Straddling his waist and digging her fingers into his shoulders, she bits her lip and swallows. "No way. I fight fair. It was for the kiss you gave me..." She thought for a short while. "...Three weeks ago. In my office. You took me off guard before you left."

With a grin, he quickly and smoothly reverses their positions, looking down at her surprised face now. This is more familiar, and better. He can have more control.

She twists her mouth a little, not pleased that he gained the upper hand. But she doesn't try to fight for the position, at which his smile deepens. He likes, better than the fact he is in control itself, that she willingly lets him. That is partly why he is eager to take control in the first place.

Not that he does it all the time. He lets her have control from time to time. Compromise is an important part of marriage. Not to mention it can be quite enjoyable.

But tonight, he is going to be in charge. One of the things he learned during the Second Bloody Valentine War is, after all, not neglecting his own needs. Partly because it can result in neglecting the needs of his loved ones.

So he is taking care of his needs. And Cagalli's.

"Then, you owe me for the kiss that night. When you came home." He lowers his face to drop a kiss, not a deep one.

As he starts to pull back, she cranes her neck to follow his retreating lips and capture them with hers. She circles her arms around his neck and torso and presses her body against his.

"This kiss was for...?" he asks after their lips part, giving light kisses over her face and then neck. Meanwhile, his hand is unbuttoning her pajama diligently.

"It was..." she murmurs, slipping her hands under his pajama.

But the words turn into moans as his hand moves to the next step that is to enjoy the feel of her soft body, along with his mouth going further down, and he can't make out her answer, which he doesn't mind at all.

They are getting too lost in the passion and desire to pay attention to such a trivial thing. After all, they haven't had intimate time for a while.

* * *

His ears catch light running steps coming closer from behind. He stops in the middle of the corridor and leisurely turns around. His daughter is running up toward him, her braided ponytail—or liontail as she likes to call it—dangling from the back of her head and bouncing as energetically as the owner.

"Good morning, Father!"

He smiles. "Good morning."

He assesses her appearance before she runs into him and they engage in a hug. She doesn't seem to be planning to climb a tree or do something as adventurous today, judging from the pink, long, frilly skirt she wears, the kind her mother would never pick.

Feeling relieved and pulling away from the hug, he moves his eyes, which fall on her neck. The neck with no chain around it.

He stares at her bare neck with mild surprise. "You aren't wearing the ring today."

She fidgets. "Um...no."

"Why? Your mother said, you love it and wear it every day."

"I do. But..."—she hesitantly looks at him—"you don't like it, do you?"

He is taken aback. He didn't think she had noticed it. He stares harder at her and she looks back. Her face appears concerned. Concerned about him.

She abandoned wearing the ring because she cares about his feelings and possibly sensed it was what he wanted her to do. She did so even without his asking her to.

His wish was fulfilled, with no effort on his part, and he should feel happy. Yet, he doesn't. He doesn't feel this is what he wanted, what he wants.

Her face when she was showing him the ring came back to his mind. Her face right now looks quite different from that one.

Remembering Cagalli's words last night and his own thoughts as well, he lets out a quiet sigh, inwardly berating himself.

He made a mistake, one similar to his past ones. He has been dwelling on his negative emotions, instead of considering the feelings of his loved one, and caused her to give up what she loved. You can still make bad choices even when you try not to, even when you believe you know better.

However, what is important isn't making no mistakes but what you do after making one. And it's not too late. He can still correct his mistake.

He may not really have changed as his wife said. But he isn't the same as when he made the mistake of giving her the ring with a red gem, either. He has changed as much as she has.

Now he knows what is most important to him, what he wants most, what makes him happy most. Now he knows what matters. Now he knows what he should do to have the future he wishes for.

Kneeling down in front of Kitri, he brushes her hair away from her face and cups her cheek with his hand.

"It's all right. You can wear it," he gently says. "In fact, I want you to wear it."

She stares at him with big amber eyes. "Are you sure?"

He warmly smiles at her. "Absolutely."

His daughter is much, much more important to him than a ring, or than getting his selfish wish fulfilled. He cares too much about her to say how she feels or what she wants doesn't matter as much as what he wants her to do.

No, that's not what he wants. That's not the kind of person he wants or chooses to become.

Kitri's face morphs into a bright smile that reminds him of her mother. She looks much happier than she did a few minutes ago, even happier than she did yesterday, which fills him with happiness.

"I love you, Father!" With a squeal, she throws her arms around his neck.

His face melting into a fond smile, he squeezes her back. "You too, Kitri." _M_ _ore than anything, more than myself_ , he adds inwardly.

A ring doesn't matter in the end. It is just an object whatever it represents, whatever feelings are put into it. Giving or wearing a ring is just a form, an appearance whatever reason it is done for. It doesn't matter whether or not his daughter—or his wife—wears his ring as long as she loves him and he loves her. As long as they are happy.

That is what truly matters.

And it depends on him whether he tries to satisfy his own wishes or those of his loved one. It is he that chooses between words and actions which make his loved one happy and those that make them sad. He can choose to cling to his past or selfish satisfaction at their expense. Or he can choose a different way.

He has and he will.

Kitri abruptly slips out of his arms, quickly turns around, and starts to run. "I'll be right back!"

"Where are you going?" he calls out with confusion, his arms still held out.

Without stopping, she looks over her shoulder at him. "I'm going to fetch the ring!"

Gazing at her retreating back, he exhales a sigh and shakes his head with a tender expression. "You are just as impulsive as your mother."

As he stands up, his eyes still on her figure that is disappearing behind the corner, he softly adds, "And as difficult to let go." She is truly her mother's daughter.

Her recklessness is already a source of his worries. Like her mother, she is so unhesitant to jump into an adventure that she regularly makes him want to lock her up in a safe place so that nothing can take her away from him.

At the same time, she is so lively and vivid that she always reminds him that she can't spend her life within the confines of his expectations. She needs to be free, deciding her own boundaries. Well, not completely yet, for she is still a little child. But he should let her go the way she wants to go while still looking out for her, like letting her have her way while assigning a guard to discreetly watch her during her adventures.

It is natural for you to want your loved ones to be safe and happy. However, what you think is best for them may be completely different from what they themselves think is. You may object. You may try to make them change their mind. But in the end, you have to accept it is their life and happiness; they are the one to make the choice. Otherwise, you will become the one to make them miserable and unhappy. You can never force them, whether your lover or family or friend, to want what you want them to. They can't want it even if they want to; you can't control the heart.

Reminding himself so, he leans against the wall.

Setting your loved ones free isn't easy. You can never be certain they will always be with you. They may decide to leave you one day. And even if they don't, life can be very cruel, suddenly ripping them away from you without even allowing you to be prepared for the loss. He has experienced it many times. He has lost many people he cares about, which strengthened his desire to hold onto those still with him.

But keeping them on a chain isn't the way. If he holds onto his loved ones too tightly, he will suffocate them, kill the relationship, or worse, kill the very person he loves by making them a mindless, lifeless puppet.

Or they will have to reject his love, which he has turned into a chain that restrains them, in order to protect themselves. His love will become a source of their pain and suffering instead of happiness and protection he actually wants to give them. One way or another, he will lose the person he loves.

So he just hopes they choose to stay, to keep their relationship with him, and lets them be free, knowing the risk.

Staying in the relationship has to be their own choice, of their free will. Therefore, there is another desire he needs to control: the desire to be chained, especially by Cagalli.

He wants her to want him enough to do so, desperately love him and need him. Plus, thinking that you have no choice but to stay in the relationship because you are tied to the person can be easier than continuing to choose to stay and taking the responsibility, than thinking that it is no one else's choice and responsibility but yours and that you will have only yourself to blame when your choice leads to unwanted consequences.

However, their relationship will be reduced to something worthless if one of them starts to restrain the other, to trample the will and wishes of the other. Their relationship is worth cherishing only when both of them stay in it because they want to, not because they have no other choice or because they feel obligated to. They can be happy together only when they are connected by a bond of love, not by a chain.

Although he and Cagalli are also legally bound as a married couple, that isn't why they stay together. Marriage is a means for them to be together, not the reason.

As fate isn't.

Fighting against destiny—against the desire to surrender to it—is one of the important battles he learned to fight during the Second Bloody Valentine War. The battle he, Cagalli, and their comrades chose to fight.

Although believing in destiny can be relieving and even useful when you are struggling to accept some things in your life beyond human control, it can also make you irresponsible, allowing you to not take responsibility for your actions, for your own life. If everything is determined by fate, nothing is your choice, and thus, nothing is your responsibility.

If you believe you are in a relationship because of something other than your will, you may not feel the need to work for it. Because it isn't your actions that determine how your relationship will turn out. What you do basically doesn't matter. There would be no reason for you to try, to work.

But he—they know fate isn't the one to maintain their relationship or the one to decide with whom they have a relationship to begin with, just as it isn't the one to create their future.

They are together not because of fate, but because of love. Not because they are meant to, but because they choose to.

So they don't just give up—they don't _have to_ give up—when it seems that fate is against them and that their effort is meaningless. They still try because they have a dream they still want to realize, because they still want to be together even if it's not their destiny. Because they believe that they have the power to change the situation. They choose to work for the tomorrow they wish for, the tomorrow when they are together and happy, instead of relying on fate to make things work out fine and just waiting for what they want to come their way.

That is what makes you happy with your life, he believes.

He cherishes his current life because it is based on his effort, and his loved ones'. And on their love and care for each other. Not on destiny.

They know and appreciate the other's desire, will, and effort to stay together, and it makes their lives and relationships precious more than anything. There is nothing that makes him happier than knowing that his loved ones want and choose to be with him for no reason except they want to and they are happy being with him.

You can't have it unless both your loved one and yourself are unrestrained. Restraining each other or submitting to fate might be easier, might ease your anxiety, but it would rob your relationship of the preciousness and you of the happiness.

Although his plan wasn't right, Dullindal had a point. In order to be happy, you sometimes have to fight against yourself, your desires, protect yourself and your loved ones from them.

Though it of course doesn't mean discarding all your desires or keeping your needs unfulfilled.

He once believed in it. For a long time, he felt that it was selfish and wrong of him to try to fulfill his own wishes. That he should try to fulfill others' wishes—his parents' for instance—instead. It was partly why he tended to be oblivious to what he wished for, his own desires.

During the Second Bloody Valentine War, however, he realized that the belief caused him to hurt the people he cared about. The belief he applied to not only himself but also other people.

He was denying others the freedom and right to try to make themselves happy, attempting to make them abandon their wishes because it was the right thing to do. Even worse, he tried to avoid being selfish and doing wrong, avoid attempting to get his wishes fulfilled himself, so much that he ended up trying to make others fulfill his wishes, insisting it was for their sake rather than his, which was actually more selfish and wrong.

When he told Cagalli and Kira to abandon their attempt to stop and protect the Orb forces and go back to Orb, a safe place, he believed that he knew what was best for them better than they themselves did and that he was acting for their benefit. However, he actually wanted them to listen to him mostly because of his own desires to keep them safe and to make them obey him. He was focusing on what he wanted rather than what they wanted without even realizing it.

Similarly, he used his loved ones as an excuse to do what he wanted to, because he needed to believe that he wasn't selfishly trying to do something solely for himself. That his rejoining ZAFT was not just for his own sake but also for the sake of Orb, of Cagalli and the others he cared about in the country, when the decision had been primarily stemmed from his own desire to have power and authority so that he could fulfill his wishes.

He couldn't allow himself to fight for himself, so even after it turned out what he was doing was actually harming those he was supposed to be trying to protect, he still kept using them. This time, he blamed Cagalli and Orb for his harming them instead of accepting the situation and searching for a way to stop harming them, a way to actually protect them. He wanted to believe that the situation was like that not because he had chosen a wrong way, blinded by his desires, but because Orb and Cagalli gave him no choice, _made_ him hurt them.

He escaped from facing his desires, and thus from facing his responsibility as well. If you deny a part of you, it will just harm you and people around you. You need to face it and accept it so that you can control it instead of being controlled by it.

He would never say the desire to do the right thing or the desire to act selflessly is wrong. However, they aren't always right or good, either. When you become a slave to "the right thing" or lose yourself in "selfless" acts, you become a puppet. And ironically, you start to act selfishly and wrongly, making others surrender their will and wishes and accept being controlled and used, too.

In order to respect other people's boundaries, you need to protect your own and remain yourself. In order to respect other people's choices, you need to fight for and protect your own freedom to make your own choices and your own right to live the life you want.

During the war, he learned that, learned to accept his selfish desires and to allow himself to live and fight for his own sake. Which in turn let him accept other people's desires and their right to live their life as they wanted.

His frustration about his situation while working as Cagalli's bodyguard had been strong partly because he thought he was making sacrifices for her. He felt he was doing what he didn't exactly want to do, but continued doing it, telling himself he had to do it for her sake.

It wasn't that he disliked protecting her. On the contrary, it was exactly what he wanted to do. But he didn't like the way he was protecting her: as a bodyguard who didn't have much power and couldn't do much beyond defending someone important. It wasn't enough for him. He wanted to make his own achievements rather than just support someone else in accomplishing their goals.

So did she.

As much as he couldn't just devote himself to supporting her and always stay by her side, she couldn't just devote herself to taking care of him, to fulfilling his needs. They can't give up everything else for each other, to be with each other.

They are the same. What they want, their dreams, are the same.

Everyone dreams of the same thing: happiness. Everyone tries to achieve the goal in the way that they think is best. That is how humans are, how and why humans have been living for a long, long time. Although too much selfishness is problematic and it isn't right that you use or control others to get your wishes fulfilled, trying to realize your dreams in itself isn't wrong at all even if it is selfish.

And he and she dream of the same kind of life, have the same idea of happiness. They both want to do something themselves. They both want to work for something bigger than themselves. They both want more than just a small world with the people close to them, more than an ordinary, peaceful life. They both want to stand up and fight to protect rather than be protected. They both want to live like that while being with their loved ones.

They want the same thing and therefore, she couldn't fulfill his wish. Because she was the Cagalli he knew and loved, a person who wanted and tried to fight and protect. Just like himself.

And he came to the realization that not only could he change it, but he didn't want to. That he cherished her as she was and wanted her to remain who she was.

Thus, he let go of his wish to make her abandon Orb, abandon fighting and protecting. His wish to change her. The wish he had put into the ring with a red gem.

Then, he chose to still stay with her and protect what she cared about, what she wanted to protect with her life. He accepted that Orb was a part of her, a part she—or anyone—couldn't cut off. That protecting the country wasn't an option, what he would do only if it was convenient for him, but an essential part of being with her, what he absolutely should do if he wanted a life with her.

And he did. He wanted to be with her even if she was different from what he wanted her to be.

It didn't matter that she could fight for herself and didn't need him to fight for her. It didn't matter that she had many other people who helped, supported, and protected her and would probably be fine without him. It didn't matter that there might be some other girl who more desperately wanted him or needed his protection, who fulfilled his needs better. Some other girl who fit his ideal better.

None of that changed the fact that he wanted Cagalli and wanted to protect her. Because he loved her.

If he just wants someone who will act as he wants her to and be how he wants her to, then it doesn't have to be Cagalli. Anyone who has the ability to play the role can suffice. Puppets are replaceable, and disposable. Their feelings and wishes—their heart doesn't matter; the only things that matter are their ability and whether they can keep up appearances, and they will be discarded when they can no longer act the part given to them.

But it isn't what he wants. It isn't how he wants to live his life. He wants to be with and protect those he loves and wants to protect, rather than be with those who play the role he gives them only for that reason and protect them as a reward. As much as he wants to work for what he himself believes is right rather than what other people say is right.

He doesn't want a puppet to serve his needs or a tool to fulfill his wishes as much as he doesn't want to become one.

The heart—not just his own, but also others'—matters to him. He loves Cagalli as a person, for who she is, for her heart. Not for what she is or what she has, what she can and does for him. Not because she fits his expectations.

It doesn't mean he doesn't appreciate her effort to fulfill his wishes, to make him happy. Nor would he say what she did for him had nothing to do with the attraction he felt for her, why he was attracted to her in the first place.

It is just not the reason why he loves her. He loves her even when she isn't going along with his wishes, even when she does what he doesn't want her to or doesn't do what he wants her to.

He was able to realize that and learn to accept her as she was partly because he had come to accept himself as he was. Not a perfect boyfriend who was always strong and reliable, fighting for her and fulfilling her wishes; the ideal he had been trying to live up to. But a person who had faults and weaknesses and wanted to fulfill his own wishes, who had been trying to protect her for his own sake even though it wasn't always successful.

Protecting her has always been his own wish, what he tries to do not because she asks him to or she needs him to but because he just wants to.

Therefore, he should make his own decision about how he fulfills the wish. He has to do it his own way, not the way other people expect him to do or the way someone else does. It is he who decides what he should fight against and how, how he lives his life. It is he who knows what is best for him, for his own dreams.

Whatever it is about, it is he who makes the choices in his life.

So he chose the way that fulfills his wishes while fulfilling hers. As a part of the Orb's military, he has power and authority to do something himself, and uses them to protect Orb along with her.

He fights for Orb, not because he feels he has to do it for her, not because she wants him to do it, but because he wants to do it for himself, because it is necessary to create the future he wishes for. He protects Orb because he cares about the country and also, it is a part of protecting her, someone he wants to protect. He protects her because it is a part of protecting his own happiness.

He needs his loved ones to be safe and happy in order to be happy, and therefore, protecting them isn't equal to making sacrifices. It isn't exactly a selfless act. He is doing what he wants to do and doing it partly for his own sake. It is just a part of the effort to make himself happy.

What he is doing might even be a selfish act. His choices to stay in Orb and to be with her have been objected by many people, after all. But it doesn't matter as long as he can protect his loved ones instead of harming them by his selfishness. Whether he is being—or appearing—selfless or selfish isn't the most important thing. He now knows it, and so, can do things that truly help and protect those he cares about instead of things that make him feel good about himself but don't help or protect them.

Just because he stopped competing against Orb, though, it doesn't mean the jealousy he felt toward the country over Cagalli is completely gone, as his desire to chain her isn't.

He always has the worry that she might sacrifice herself for the sake of the country. Even now, even after they got married and had children, it is still possible, he knows.

She has a duty to her country and her people, and she is a person devoted to her duty, to protecting what she cares about. There is always a possibility that she will leave him, leave her loved ones, leave this universe to fulfill the duty as long as she is an Athha—as long as she is herself.

However, he also knows that she wouldn't want it. That she doesn't want to give up being with her loved ones. That she won't give up fighting for them, for her happiness, for their happiness. That she will never try to sacrifice her happiness as easily as she once did when she decided to marry Jona Roma Saran. Not even for Orb. Or for him. Or for anyone, anything.

He trusts her to not give up searching for a way to protect herself while protecting what she loves.

And that is what he needs from her.

Then, all he has to do is fight to help her so that she can protect what she wants to protect without sacrificing herself. He can focus on the task as long as he knows she won't give up. He can believe she will be hanging on until he reaches there to give her a hand, until they find a way together.

And he can trust her to tell him if he is on a wrong path, if what he is doing isn't helping her, let alone if it's harming her. He knows she would stand up for herself even against him, instead of just going along and silently suffering because of him. Like she refused to follow his words and abandon intervening in battles, abandon her wish to protect what was important to her. Like she took off the ring with a red gem, refusing to live according to his expectations, to sacrifice her happiness for him.

He doesn't have to worry about making at least the mistake of ruining her happiness, and regretting and suffering over it for the rest of his life; he knows she wouldn't let him do it.

And he also knows she knows that he too won't give up fighting. That he will fight for Orb along with her so that she won't ever have to fight alone. That he will fight his hardest for their happiness and their future.

That he wouldn't just give up and sacrifice his happiness, either.

She isn't the only one who has the possibility of sacrificing oneself and leaving loved ones. He has a tendency to put his personal matters, or even his life, behind the greater good, as she sometimes points out. While she nearly gave up her happiness to protect Orb, he almost gave up his life to protect the Earth, after all. Not to mention his own job requires him to risk his life from time to time.

He is still willing to sacrifice himself if it is necessary in order to do the right thing or protect those he cares about. However, it doesn't mean he is eager to. He wants and tries to avoid doing it as much as possible. For his own sake and the sake of his loved ones.

Now he fully understands that his death, even if it's for the greatest cause, will still hurt his loved ones, making them cry and suffer, which he didn't clearly understand during the First Bloody Valentine War, or maybe even until the end of the Second Bloody Valentine War. But he has realized that, and he wouldn't want it. He wants to be with them and make them happy, be happy with them. He would never want to be a source of their suffering in any way.

He is determined to protect his life, to control his desire to do something, as hard as he can. Even if he sacrifices his life someday, it won't be because he abandons himself, but because he tries to protect what he values more than his own life even though he cherishes his life. He will fight for himself until the last moment.

And she knows that. She trusts him as much as he does her, which makes it possible for them to fight together.

They can't quit fighting to achieve their goals in order to support the other no matter how much they love each other. But they can fight along with each other, supporting each other. Fight together for the goals they share.

It is different from the traditional way, the way he was trying to follow when he gave her the ring with a red gem. It may not work for other couples. But it doesn't matter. Everyone and every couple is different, has their own way.

Sharing a life means trusting each other and working together, trusting your partner to keep working, not give up. The trust is what maintains and strengthens the bond of love, and they have it.

They have found their way to live together, the way to be together without either of them abandoning their dream, and been following it for many years. It hasn't been an easy path. There were times they were nearly devastated. But they never gave up, and they achieved many things, obtained many things.

And they both are going to continue walking down that path, he can say with certainty. They are going to keep fighting together until their last breaths.

To live is indeed to fight. The fight never ends. Every day is a battle to survive and make what is important to you survive. A battle to protect both yourself and your loved ones, to balance your needs and their needs, which might be the hardest thing in any relationship but an essential task for both of you to be happy. A battle that lasts as long as you are together. A battle that is tough, but worthwhile.

Maybe, he muses as his eyes idly roam around the corridor, it's a good thing for him after all that his daughter wears the ring with a red gem around, as his wife said.

In that way, he can be reminded regularly that even his mistake, a symbol of his mistake, can bring happiness to him. That just because he once tried to use it as a chain, it doesn't mean the ring always have to remain that way. It can be something else, like just a pretty ring. Everything—and everyone—can change.

Or even if it remains to be a chain, maybe it can be one that helps him protect his happiness instead of ruining it. A chain is just a chain. What matters is how he uses it, what he restrains with it.

Probably he can use the ring to put his desires on a chain, one made of his determination to protect those he cares about, his wishes for their happiness, and his love for them.

Probably he can forge an unbreakable chain even. His love is stronger than his selfish desires; it is the strongest weapon he can use in the battle against himself, though not the only one. Their love for him and their happy faces are nearly as effective.

And he has a reliable partner who supports him, fights together with him, and even protects him. He isn't alone in the fight.

His eyes catch sight of Kitri running back. He pushes himself off the wall and resumes walking toward the stairs with slow steps so that she will catch up with him before he reaches there. Then they can go downstairs together.

He turns his head to have a look at her face still holding a happy smile. His lips curve up, and he feels surer that he can keep winning the battle even if it gets harder as his children grow up. He can and will do anything to keep the smile on his daughter's face, and his son's and his wife's. He will protect them from anything, even from himself.

Feeling his resolve strengthen, he stretches out his hand to flip his daughter's braid affectionately as she reaches his side. His fingers go on to lightly brush the chain around her neck from which the ring with a red gem is dangling.

She gives him an even brighter smile.

* * *

 **The End**

* * *

 **A/N** : You may have been confused about Athrun and Cagalli's conversation about their first kiss. How they kissed was quite different in the original version and in the remastered version, and this fic is based on the remastered version.

Although I wrote in the note of "The Ring" that I think the AC's story in GSD was about understanding, acceptance, and trust, I couldn't really explore the trust part in the fic. So I wrote this fic mostly for that purpose, and to write some other things I couldn't include in "The Ring." I also explored it from Cagalli's perspective in the last part of "The Lion's Daughter."

···

In my opinion, the relationship between Dullindal and Athrun, that between the Sarans and Cagalli, and that between Athrun and Cagalli _in_ _GSD_ are more or less the same. In a sense, all of the relationships are about trust. More accurately, the wrong kind of trust: one you put in someone who doesn't deserve it just because you want to.

The relationships are also about manipulation, trying to make someone a puppet. Many of you must be itching to disagree with me about Athrun trying to make Cagalli his puppet. But compare how he acted toward her in the middle part of GSD with the other two relationships: the former tried to make the latter do what they wanted them to do including abandoning what was important to the latter, ignoring the will and feelings of the latter; when the latter didn't obey the former and tried to do what they themselves wanted to do anyway, the former rejected the latter; the former also harmed those the latter cared about.

The only difference is that Athrun genuinely cared about Cagalli and didn't really mean to harm her. (Also, I should note that the extent he went was much lesser than those the Sarans or Dullindal did.) It's a big difference, and I believe it's the reason why he could realize his fault and correct his behavior. Though it still doesn't justify or excuse his attitude.

Well, at the same time, having a flaw or making a mistake doesn't make you a bad person. I think what it means to be a good person is trying to do good things, correct your mistakes or make up for them, learn from the past, and do better next time. And Athrun does it, I believe.

···

There is a short companion fic called "The One with Crawfish." I suppose you can guess what it's about. I'll upload it next week.

Thank you for reading. And I sincerely thank those who have written a review of my fics or sent a message to me. You kept me going.

And happy birthday, Athrun!


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